


Guardians of the Sky

by Uniasus



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Hospitals, Leadership, Light Sheith, Lion Bonds, M/M, Post-Season/Series 07, established sheith
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-09-28
Updated: 2018-09-28
Packaged: 2019-07-18 16:02:00
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 14,085
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16121945
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Uniasus/pseuds/Uniasus
Summary: Despite their agreement, Shiro thinks nothing about Black purring in the back of his mind. After all, the battle for Earth had been intense. But when Black points out she hasn't been reaching out, Shiro needs to determine who's trying to get access to his mind.





	Guardians of the Sky

**Author's Note:**

> It took me way longer to post this than I wanted. But it took me a while to write in on my phone during my morning commutes, and then did more editing then I typically do for a fic. Regardless, here's this. Please shower me with comments I can read during my vacation to distract me from my mom.

On his way to waking up, Shiro noting the rumbling purr in the back of his mind.

Except, that shouldn’t be there. While his connection to Black would never be cut off, their psyches were too ingrained for that, he made it very clear to her that Keith was his successor. Even after the unexpected act of being uploaded to a clone body by Allura.

Keith had found his place with the others, he wouldn’t jeopardize that even if he missed the warmth of Black’s metal and the power he felt while flying her.

Thinking the purr was just Black checking in on him after the battle, Shiro sent a sleepy tendril of thought towards her. Only to realize while similar to a lion’s purr, it wasn’t at all.

Alarmed, Shiro bolted up in bed.

Instantly, the rumbling in his head disappeared.

Bringing his hands to his head, he scrunched his eyes closed and tried to follow the source. Was it even something reaching out? Was it a lingering part of a dream? A memory? A machine outside no longer running?

“Commander Shirogane?”

He looked up at the alarmed question, catching sight of a male nurse rapidly approaching his hospital bed and looking at the array of machines.

“Are you okay? Do you need pain medication?” the nurse continued.

“What? No. No, I’m okay.” Shiro lowered his hands and smiled at the nurse.

He didn’t look convinced. “No blinding headache?”

“No, sorry for worrying you, just trying to hold onto a dream.”

“Good dream then?” The nurse looked at the heart rate monitor and wrote down the number on Shiro’s vital sheet.

“Not sure,” Shiro answered as the nurse continued to note a range of Shiro’s vitals for the morning.

The nurse _hmmd_ , already dismissing the conversion as he concentrated on his job. Stats written, he looked up from tablet to smile at Shiro. “Your chances are good for being released today.”

Shiro smiled back at him. “Glad to hear. After four days, I’m ready to leave.”

The nurse chuckled. “I bet. The doctor should be by later this morning for a final check.”

“Thanks. And,” Shiro swallowed. “The paladins? Have any of them woken up yet?”

“I heard the pilot of the Blue Lion woke up during the night.” The nurse gave a small smile before letting it droop. “None of the cadet pilots have woken yet, Commander.”

Shiro gave a stiff nod. “Thank you for the report.”

Once the nurse left, Shiro threw his head back into his pillow. He was glad Allura seemed to be on the road to recovery. Her Altean biology made her hard to knock down and her injuries had made Shiro very concerned about how the human paladins would weather that last explosion.

Allura waking up was a good sign. In a few days, Keith and the others would too.

He hoped.

* * *

 

After final tests and blood draws, the doctor did indeed allow Shiro to leave. He could tell she still had questions on her mind - she'd been the Garrison's doctor for years and no doubt wanted to know why both his arm and musculature disease was gone - but she'd been professional enough to keep her questions to the injuries from the most recent string of fights. That, and probably because Shiro now outranked her.

He pulled on a clean uniform, simultaneously feeling younger and older. He associated the outfit with days untouched by violence and war, but the new bars on his shoulder and the way those around him snapped to attention made him feel the weight of the past few years.

He broke another record - youngest commander in Garrison history - and felt no pride in it.

Shiro's life, after all, was no longer about reaching as high as he could while he could. It had turned from a strive for the stars to a desperate desire to survive and ensure others did too.

There was no pride in surviving the Arena, in protecting the universe, his planet, and his friends. Just the relief that they had one more day.

Shiro's pride had shifted from his own deeds to his team's.

Straightening his jacket, Shiro left the hospital room he spent the last four days in to poke his head into the five around him.

Each held a paladin and family members of various stress levels. Lance's family took turns to sit at his side and occupy the foot of the bed, the room too tiny to fit everyone for long. Collen stayed with Pidge, Sam taking breaks from running the Garrison to spend time with his comatose daughter. Hunk's parents had all but moved into his room, complete with a functioning hot pot. Krolia and Kolivan had arrived yesterday. Krolia refused to leave Keith alone, while Kolivan had spent hours in Shiro's room so they could exchange information and plan.

Coran couldn't spend all his time with Allura, he and Sam were doing their best to repair the Lions, Atlas, and manage what seemed like all the repair projects across the planet. But Shiro knew he carved out time each meal to eat in the princess's room and spent the nights in the hospital holding Allura's hand.

Romelle would stop by too, but she was busy working as a sort of grief counselor and had gone to the European Dome. Altea had lost its culture centuries ago, and so many Earthen cultures were gone now too. She could relate on several levels and had a Hulk-like ability to be soothing. Shiro knew she messaged Coran asking for updates on the team.

When Shiro popped into Allura’s room, Coran was just sitting down to eat a sandwich.

“Shiro!” Coran beamed at him. “Back in uniform I see, did you get released?”

“Not too long ago, yes. But I wanted to check on everyone before I left. I heard Allura woke up last night?”

“Yes. Just for a little bit, but she knew who I was and where she was. She’ll be alright.” Coran gave the sleeping woman a fond glance before turning his attention to Shiro. “And I’m sure the other paladins will wake soon.”

“Yeah,” Shiro nodded. “I still worry.”

Coran stood up and walked over to Shiro, clapping his left shoulder. “The paladins are strong. Give them an extra day or two. But it’s still okay to worry. I don’t think we will ever not.”

“No,” Shiro agreed. He thought, now, he understood Adam a little better. Worrying about Shiro had worn him thin. Maybe in a few years, all of it piloting a support ship instead of a Lion, he’d feel the same way. Then he realized that Coran had never done anything but go through that type of worrying.

“Any advice on how to make it easier?” Shiro asked.

“Watching you all grow into your skills as paladins helped, I don’t worry quite so much as when you couldn’t form Voltron." Coran laughed. “Back then, I was more worried then a snarful in a hole watching a darff trying to dig him out! But you grew, and it took more to get me to worry. But when I do, it's the same intense feeling. I simply deal with it better.”

Shiro frowned, not liking the answer.

Coran clapped him on the shoulder again. “At least you won’t worry alone.”

Shiro thought of all the guests in the paladins’ rooms and Coran himself. Smiled. “No, I guess not.”

* * *

 

Despite being released from the hospital that day, Shiro dove right into work. After all, he had no trouble standing, sitting, walking, and thinking. And there was a lot to do.

Billions of people had been enslaved, and now free they required food, shelter, and water. But infrastructure and social systems had collapsed outside of the Galra domes, making communication and travel between groups of survivors difficult. Not to mention supplies were short across the planet; no one had mined minerals, farmed crops, created fuel, for years.

The Garrison was a global military institution. It had been designed for the planet’s expansion into space, the harvesting of extraplanetary resources, learning what lay beyond the atmosphere, and protecting Earth from threats such as asteroids, solar weather, and falling satellites. It had rarely been involved in how the governments of Earth interacted and ran things aside from being asked for advice from time to time.

Of course, the Galra had wiped out those governments and countries. Not just the systems, but people too. The population of Earth had been reduced from 8 billion to 500 million.

The Garrison was the only remaining authority of any kind on the planet. It had turned from an independent military to the governing body an entire planet relied on.

No one really had any clue what they were doing.

A lot of the planet clean up fell to Shiro’s superiors, thankfully. Iverson. Sam. And of course, Shiro would help him out when he could. Thankfully, Shiro’s primary responsibilities were focused on the military side of things.  How to get the Lions and Atlas up and running. Going through the Galra domes, understanding what had been built, could it be repurposed, and planning for the Galra’s return.

There was a lot to do. Any other time, Shiro would have worked through the night. But Sam’s knock on his office door, and how much of Pidge Shiro saw in Sam’s face, had Shiro follow his old commander back to the hospital.

* * *

 

All the Paladins were still resting, machines beeping softly, though Allura had woken a second time that afternoon.

“I’m hoping he wakes up tomorrow,” Krolia said, pushing back Keith’s bangs. “He should have a faster recovery time than the others.”

“He always has,” Shiro said, leaning back in his chair on the other side of Keith’s bed from Krolia. When his back cracked, Krolia lifted an eyebrow.

“Are you sure the doctor let you go and you didn’t discharge yourself?”

Shiro grinned at her. “I’m sure. But I’ll still be sore for a while and I haven’t been able to do flexibility exercises and stretches for a week.”

“Do them now,” she commanded.

Laughing, Shiro swung his left arm over his chest to work at his shoulder.

They chatted absently, Krolia more aware of what was going on than Shiro expected for having only been on Earth for two days. Shiro had talked to Kolivan previously about how the Blades had helped planets recovering from attacks, and took the time now to ask Krolia a few more questions. Sadly, her knowledge was limited. As a spy network, the Blades had limited experience in recovery operations and after the Voltron Coalition formed they hadn’t helped much either. Galra made the locals nervous.

Not for the first time, Shiro wished he could get a hold of Matt.

Yawning, Shiro looked out the window. It was solidly night, and as Krolia reminded him he wasn’t at one hundred percent yet. His bed called.

But he didn’t want to go to the room the Garrison had given him. With his promotion, he’d gotten more space, but it was far away from team Voltron. Completely on the other side of the Garrison.

Krolia must have picked up on his thoughts. Softly, she said, “Why don’t you share the bed with Keith?”

Shiro raised an eyebrow; did she really just suggest he spend the night cuddling her son?

Krolia snorted. “I’ve slept in the hospital bed without disturbing him. Keith will be fine. And it’s not like I haven’t seen you two cuddle before.”

Shiro couldn’t stop his blush. “The lions are cramped-”

“Shut it.” She flicked a sharpened claw at him, then sank back in her own chair. “I’m his mother, but I think the most important person in his life will always be you.”

Shiro didn’t have anything to say to that.

“If you’ve been sharing the bed, where will you sleep tonight?” Shiro asked.

“Between the chairs. Or on the floor. I’ve slept in worse places.”

“Let me at least ask the nurses to get you a blanket.”

“No need.” From the corner of the room, Krolia pulled out a pack and reached inside. The fabric she revealed was thin, Galra made, and Shiro knew fairly warm. Krolia also lifted a pillow into the air and wriggled it. “The nurses gave me bedding the first night. Extras too. Sometimes Kolivan sleeps here. Now get on the bed.”

Shiro threw his hands up in surrender, laughing. “Okay, okay.”

He stripped to his undershirt, took off his shoes, and then directed his right arm to the floor. It was handy, being able to control how far it could rest, and having it there gave him an extra inch on the bed.

Still, he kept his distance from Keith. Krolia's presence filled the room and why, yes, she'd seen Keith and Shiro tangled up before, she'd never been there when they started.

"Just cuddle," Krolia snapped after Shiro's fifth readjustment.

Sighing in resignation, Shiro scooted down the bed. Then he flipped onto his stomach, half on Keith's left side, and rested his cheek on Keith's chest. The steady up and down motions of Keith's breath sent him to sleep.

* * *

 

A contented purr vibrated through Shiro's mind and body. Out of habit, he reached his mind out towards Black, the only other presence in the astral plane. Except, instead of linking with her he got the vague sense of Black skittering away.

Curious, and a bit hurt, Shiro opened his eyes on the astral plane. Black crouched before him, tail twitched. As he prepared to talk to her, the purr in the air turned to a rumble.

Not from Black, from something behind him.

Alarm shot through both Shiro and Black. Shiro turned around -

And blinked his eyes open in Keith's hospital room.

He shot up, dislodging a hand in his hair and startling Krolia curled up on the seats between two chairs.

"Shiro, what-?" The Galra woman instantly woke and snapped her head toward the door.

But before Shiro could answer, the body beneath him shifted. Shiro looked down to see Keith looking at him with unfocused eyes.

"Shiro-"

Keith's voice was raspy. Dry. He probably needed water, but Shiro ignored that to swoop down and give him a kiss. Completely uncaring about Krolia in the room.

Keith responded as best he could, but Shiro could feel the weakness in Keith's hand as it reached up to cup Shiro's cheek. Reluctantly, Shiro pulled away.

Only to spend ten seconds sharing soft smiles with Keith.

"Glad to see you're awake," Shiro said. He leaned down to place a peck on Keith's forehead.

"How long was -"

"Here." Krolia interrupted Keith to shove a cup of water in his face. "No talking yet."

Rolling his eyes, Keith accepted the cup and drank.

Shiro took the time to get off Keith's bed. "I'll let the doctor know."

When Shiro popped back into Keith's room for another kiss, he looked ready to drop back to sleep. Shiro pulled the blanket up and promised to be back at lunch.

"Where are you going?" Keith asked.

"Work. They put me in charge of Earth's defenses."

Keith pushed himself up. "Voltron-"

"Is unneeded. At this point, it's a lot of clean up. You guys will help when you're better. Plus, you and Allura are the only ones who have woken up." Shiro gave Keith a quick kiss. "Your mom can fill you in, and you can ask questions later. Stay. Heal."

"Okay." Reluctantly, Keith laid back in bed. "See you soon."

* * *

 

Shiro briefly checked in on the other Paladins, Allura was awake and Shiro got to give her a hug, and let the whole extended group know Keith had woken. Everyone breathed in relief at that, the others should come around soon, and then Sam and Shiro showered before heading back to headquarters.

The Lions had all been recovered and brought back, so Shiro's main concern for the day was the Galra wreckage. The robeast that had drained Atlas and Voltron was scattered around the Southwest and parts of Latin America. Shiro wanted the pieces found and brought back, so engineering could look at it.

The robeast hadn't belonged to Sendak. If it had, he would have sent it out sooner. It was a stark reminder that they didn't know the current status of the Galra Empire. But it's technology had grown and no doubt Haggar was behind it.

Not for the first time, Shiro wondered if there would ever be an end to this war. He never thought killing Zarkon would be the end, he knew too much history, but when the others formed the coalition he had had hope. Another ruling body who could treat with the Empire could have lead to a system of checks and balances.

Of course, he didn't know the full status of the Coalition either. No one on Voltron had been in close contact with them since Lotor was crowned Empire and Kolivan's intel was old.

The morning passed fast, but Shiro refused to work through lunch. Not when Keith was waiting.

He and Sam walked together, discussing plans for the rest of the day. While Sam was focusing more on the worldwide problems of supply, he was still an engineer curious in what those under Shiro found out about the robeast. Even if it was just the dimensions so far.

"I also want to check in on the Atlas," Sam said. "That crystal unlocked so many capabilities. I want to see what they are."

"He's still sorta stuck," Shiro admitted. "He's got no power to transform back into a ship."

"Something you're working on, I hope?" Sam asked.

Shiro laughed. "You tell me, when will the Garrison get more fuel for non-essential transport?"

Sam scowled. "The Atlas is essential and you know that."

"I know," Shiro admitted. "But we won't need him soon and right now low atmo and ground transport are more important. Once we cluster Earth's population and have reliable contact with the groups, your call if I remember Sam, we'll work on the Atlas."

"Please don't tell me you are not working on weapons."

"I'm not working on weapons. Coran is. It'll be faster to learn how to use those installed on the Domes. They're more efficient than anything we could build."

"Do you have an item list?"

Shiro laughed. "I've only been at this less than 24 hours, Sam. I'm still figuring out the priority of a lot of things, but if we concentrate on the one nearby I can get you a list by week's end."

Sam nodded. "Just let me know."

* * *

 

Sadly, when they returned to the hospital Krolia informed Shiro Keith had slipped into sleep not ten minutes ago after being awake most of the morning.

So he spent lunch with Krolia, tossing ideas back and forth about the robeast. They ended up at the same conclusion - it was probably sent by Haggar and most likely a scout.

The idea didn't sit well with Shiro, and he started thinking about warning systems. Maybe Sam's microsats? He'd have to give the plans to an engineer.

A knock on the door revealed Coran and Sam, ready to head back.

"Ready for the afternoon?" Coran asked.

"One sec." Shiro got up to kiss Keith's cheek goodbye.

Keith stirred at the contact. "Shiro?" He muttered.

"Yeah. Sorry, I gotta leave."

"Black says see her."

Shiro froze, suddenly remembering his dream from last night. Yeah, he should talk to Black. "I will this evening."

"Good." Keith's eyes shifted close again.

Shiro brushed a lock of black hair off his forehead head before stepping into the hallway.

"See you later, Krolia," Shiro called over his shoulder.

"Good lunch?" Coran asked while they walked across the compound.

"As nice as having familiar food is, I miss Hunk's cooking," Shiro admitted.

Sam laughed. "We're eating MREs half the time, of course, you miss Hunk's cooking." He sobered quickly. "Plus, we really need to start farming again. Not just local gardens either."

Shiro nodded. Kickstarting agriculture was one of the planet’s priorities after getting people into safe shelters. But it wouldn't be done here, near the Garrison. The soil and climate could support very little. And the effects of laser and weapon radiation on soil was still unknown. It'd be a tight few years.

They'd make it. Humans were a hardy species. Shiro was a prime example of that.

* * *

 

The afternoon went fast, probably because breaks were nonexistent. But he noticed the small presence of Black hovering at the back of his mind.

They had an agreement, Black and him. That she wouldn't push, respect his wishes. She said her piece of course. Shiro was her first pick. A truly bonded Paladin who could see through her eyes, feel through her paws. Merge mind and soul to become one being and do great things.

Four years ago, Shiro would have jumped on that. Accepted the bond, probably go down in history as one of the best paladins in the universe, just as he was considered one of Earth's best pilots.

But stepping back into his role as pilot of the Black Lion (the team still insisted on him being the Black Paladin) would not have been good for the team.

Leaders were meant to nurture their teams, help them grow, and taking control of Black would have resulted in three floundering paladins. As a pilot, it had been time to step down.

After he made his choice, Black's happy purr proof she liked his reasoning, they had established ground rules both to cement Keith's role as her pilot and to help Shiro get used to not being in the astral plane.

No thought sharing. No seeking each other out mentally, except in emergencies to Shiro's health. If Black had her own needs, she'd let Keith know. It should have also meant no shared dream space.

There'd been a few slips in the rules, especially early on while getting used to the clone body and being so physically close to Black. Whenever either of them were exhausted and they slipped into habits from Shiro's time in Black's own quintessence. Traveling with Pidge in Green had helped, and well as simply time passing.

So now today. Black in his dream, though maybe he had reached out first to identify the purr in his head, and now Black sitting patiently at the edge of his mind. Far enough away he couldn't tell her emotions.

When he wrapped up for the day and started walking toward the hanger where the Lions were, he could feel Black perk up. Their agreement existed for a reason, but they both missed each other. Shiro should make more of a habit of at least walking into the hanger to pat her paw.

Black stayed on the fringes of his mind, pacing with a mix of excitement, fondness, and worry. When Shiro stepped into the hanger, Black's eyes glowed and she turned to look at him, tail twitching.

Shiro couldn't help the grin that came on his face. "Hey, girl."

She mentally headbutted him, part greeting part _let me in we need to talk_. Nodding in response, Shiro sat cross-legged in front of her and opened his mind.

It was easy to slip into the astral plane. He'd been there a year, and despite the alien nature of being immaterial and sharing headspace with a space lion, it was a place he could call home.

Most importantly, it was a place where Shiro could fully understand Black. See things from her perspective, view her memories, thoughts, emotions just as she could see his.

They sunk into Shiro's memory of last night. Hearing the purr in his head, reaching out to Black because she'd been the source. But she hadn't been, she'd only answered because of the questioning nature of Shiro's call. And when she found him in the astral plane...

Shiro hadn't had a chance to turn around and look. But Black had been facing the origin of the presence in Shiro's head and shared what she saw.

Its indistinct nature was worrisome. Even Shiro's first time here he'd been clearly defined. But this figure was easily three times as large as Black, and its shadowy nature meant it either had the power to conceal itself or hadn't fully entered the plane in an effort to follow after Shiro.

 _Is it dangerous?_ Black and Shiro asked each other simultaneously, diving into the other's thoughts.

Black didn't know, and that worried her. She had tried to reach out to it, communicate, but while she sensed intelligence she hadn't been able to talk to it. If it was hunting Shiro, or just trying to get his attention, she didn't know.

She worried it might be a remnant of the robeast.

But, Shiro told her, that wasn't the first time he'd thought he'd heard Black in his head this week. Black quickly responded none of those memories had been her actions.

So, they realized together, maybe it didn't mean serious harm. Not if it reached out twice only to purr.

_I still worry it is trying to mimic me to get you._

_I think it's too early to tell_ , Shiro thought, _but I'm concerned too. Next time I sense it, I'll let you know_.

_I'm telling him. You won't tell him yourself._

No need to ask who _him_ was. Keith, of course. And Black was right, he'd had no intention of telling Keith, who should concentrate on healing.

But Black had meddled there once already, telling Keith Shiro needed to talk to her. Keith was probably already curious, and honestly, Shiro couldn't stop her.

 _Fine_ , he sighed. Despite the others having made enormous progress with their lions, they hadn't quite yet mastered the astral plane. Otherwise, he was positive Black might have pulled Keith into the conversation.

They both fussed over him.

But Shiro could do the same. _How are you feeling after the robeast's komar?_

_Sleepy. Weak. Keith could help recharge me, but he needs to concentrate on himself. Or you -_

Shiro found himself pulled out of the astral plane by Garrison sirens going off and flashing purple lights. Together they meant unknown spacecraft approaching.

Shiro scrambled to his feet. "I gotta go," he told Black and bolted for the command center.

Black stayed with him as he rushed through the halls, reminding him Voltron could not fly. If the aliens were Galra, Earth had no defense. Not unless Shiro decided to take on a battlecruiser with Black.

Shiro grimaced. If it came to it, he would.

The sudden, massive presence that inserted itself between Shiro and Black was so forceful it sent Shiro sideways into a wall.

 _Maybe it is dangerous_ , Shiro thought.

Black didn't stand for the intruder. With a roar, she shoved the other form out of their connection. There were few things in the universe that could stand up to the Black Lion's mental presence. The third party was effectively shoved out, leaving Shiro to deal with the sudden shift in his head and Black's increasing worry as he ran for command.

He didn't have the capacity to talk to Black, so he let her ride shotgun in his mind. Seeing and hearing what he could. When he rushed into command, there were relieved breathes all around.

"Commander Shirogane, the space vessel says its part of the Voltron Coalition."

Shiro grabbed a headset from a comms tech and started speaking. "This is Takashi Shirogane, Captain of the Atlas and Commander of Earth's defenses. Identify yourself."

He glanced over at a nearby screen. Sam's microsats hadn't been equipped with visual light cameras, but instead a form of radar that produced a crude image of the ship's exterior. Not clear enough for Shiro to identify other than as something not-Galra.

But that was enough to get him, and Black, relax. Though Shiro still felt the slight pressure of something pressing on his mind, wanting to know what was going on.

Black snarled at the force and then Shiro ignored both of them to pay attention to the voice that responded.

"This is Lyma, Captain of the Forest, hailing from the Voltron Coalition planet Olkarion."

Another voice spoke from the background. "Shiro?!"

"Matt?"

There was a scramble of noise, probably the mike being transferred, before Matt spoke again. "Oh God, it is you! We haven't heard from you in over three years. We thought Voltron was destroyed. Have you been on Earth all this time? What happened?"

"We can catch up later," Shiro said around a smile. "Are you expecting to land the Forest?"

"She's not meant for planetary atmospheres," Matt said, "But we have five shuttles hoping to land."

"Permission granted. Give me the names of the shuttles and then coordinate with Traffic Command."

"See ya soon!"

Shiro signed off just as Sam entered. He must have run from the hospital, judging from his flushed face. "Who's orbiting us?"

"An Olkarion ship that's also holding a bunch of rebels. Including Matt."

"Matt?"

Shiro nodded. "He should be planetside... tomorrow morning," Shiro said after looking over the shoulder of the lieutenant currently managing space traffic. There was a note about several of their new guests wanting to talk to Allura too. It felt like this turned into a sudden diplomatic trip for the Forest.

Sam beamed. "Katie's awake. Matt's in orbit. Today couldn't get any better."

"Pidge woke up?"

Sam hummed. "The others too."

Shiro wanted to run across the compound and pull them all into hugs. But he held off leaving for half an hour, making plans for the morning and making note of the entry paths for the shuttles.

Then, he commandeered a hovercraft to fly to the hospital.

He could feel Black still lingering in his head. Wary. Protective. No doubt, Keith would behave the same way in a bit, with an extra dash of hovering.

So Shiro purposely went to Keith's room last. He got an enthusiastic hug from Lance, a rather weepy one from Hunk. Pidge tried to hold a conversation with Shiro about the robeast, but kept losing her train of thought. (A temporary effect, Collen said, according to the doctor.) Allura was prepared to meet with whoever would land in the morning, but Shiro nixed it.

"You're not allowed to take on official duties until you are medically cleared," he told her.

She sniffed but agreed. The same rule had existed on the Castle of Lions, barring emergencies. And talking to diplomats was not an emergency. No doubt, she'd go over talking points with Coran anyway.

By the time Shiro entered Keith's room, Shiro felt so exhausted it overrode his sense of hunger from missing dinner.

Keith seemed to sense it. “Come here,” he said, patting the space next to him on the hospital bed.

Not even bothering to argue, Shiro slipped into the space Keith created for him and immediately nuzzled in close.

“And I thought looking after you guys was exhausting,” Shiro said. “Looking out for a planet is worse.”

Not that he couldn't do it. Or wouldn't. But it felt like he had no mental rest, had to keep thinking and planning and preparing. It'd only been a day and a half, and yet Shiro felt the year ahead to be a heavyweight.

And then he realized he was thinking beyond six months. He smiled into Keith's neck.

"Why are you smiling?" Keith asked.

"I can think about the future now."

Keith did his best to pull Shiro close. "You always did."

"Not for me."

Keith gave a subvocal whimper and pulled Shiro tight against his side. Pressed a kiss to his temple.

Keith felt bony beneath him, thin and fragile, but he also lulled Shiro in a sense of peace as they laid there. Just breathing.

Until Keith brought up Black. Shiro should have known.

"Why is Black worried?"

"There's something trying to get into my mind."

Keith stiffened, but it was Krolia who spoke next. Shiro had been so focused on Keith he missed her, though it was stupid to think she'd be anywhere else.

"What type of something?"

"We don't know," Shiro admitted. "It started by mimicking Black, so I thought it was her, but it's not. Bigger. Sorta. Black's essence is more powerful, dense, but this thing feels like it is physically much bigger."

"What does it want?" Krolia asked.

Sighing, Shiro pushed himself up. As much as he liked cuddling Keith, in a conversation between three people he should not have his face pressed in his lover's chest. "We don't know. Until today, it's just been there."

"What happened today?" Keith reached for Shiro's hand.

"Black and I were talking, and then it pushed itself into my mind. Right between us. I stumbled into a wall, it was so forceful."

Keith squeezed his hand.

"Black shoved it out fast, but it tried to push in for probably another twenty minutes." Shiro rubbed his forehead.

"Did it hurt?" Keith asked, leaning in.

"Will it try again?" Krolia demanded.

"Just pressure, really," Shiro told Keith. "A mild distraction, that’s it. And," Shiro looked at Krolia in the corner, "My guess is yes. Black is here," he tapped the side of his head, "Guarding, but until we know what it wants yes, it'll probably try again."

"Have you told anyone else?" Krolia asked.

"I'm guessing not," Keith answered. "You probably wouldn't have told me if Black hadn't said something."

Shiro looked at the floor. "Not until I had more info to tell. Black and I have this covered."

"Commander Shirogane, this is a potential security breach. What if it wants your knowledge of Voltron? Earth defenses? The Coalition? We need to know the risk."

Shiro grit his teeth. It was true, there was a risk. But for anything to access those memories would mean a connection deep like Black's or a brutal mental assault Shiro lost. The former wouldn't happen, and the later would be shoved off. Repeatedly.

He felt Black give a growl of agreement.

Still, was he really willing to risk it? He'd made similar decisions in the past, insisting on being a part of the Kerberos mission even though he knew he wouldn't be his best for the return trip. But Sam and Matt had known the risk and accepted it.

Earth as a whole would not. And if they didn't, would they relieve him of his duties? Prevent him from helping? Because he still could help. Had so much to offer, to plan, to share.

Keith falling into Shiro's chest pulled him out of his thoughts.

"At least tell the other commanders and the paladins," he said. "And maybe make finding this thing a priority."

"Okay." Shiro sighed, wrapping both arms around Keith. "We'll have a meeting over breakfast, use the TVs in the rooms to teleconference with everyone. But for now," he muffled a yawn in the side of Keith's head.

"For now," Keith said, "we can sleep."

* * *

 

Shiro expected it, this time. To dream of that foreign purr. And now that he knew it wasn't Black, he could pick out the differences.

A lower pitch, for one, and a bigger vibration in the air. If Black was a sleek fighter jet's engine, this was the heavy, mechanical sound of a slow-moving cargo ship that did the Lunar supply runs and smashed to pieces any space trash in its way.

And now that the other had been identified as _not Black_ it seemed to abandon the notion of purring entirely.

It rumbled instead, the sound becoming lower. Gravellier. Heavier.

No longer could Shiro call it a purr.

Why it decided to cast aside the subterfuge, Shiro had no idea.

In a blink, he found himself on the astral plane staring at the large thing trying to get his attention. Shiro vaguely thought it was bipedal, but he wasn’t sure. The shadows that made it shifted, first tall, then short and long.

He stood there, staring at it. It continued to rumble but did nothing else. They each stood still, waiting for the other to make a move.

“That it?”

Shiro looked to his left to see Keith and Black approaching. “Yeah. But it hasn’t done anything. Just sat there.” Shiro waved a hand toward the shifting form.

Keith looked better in the astral plane, not drained like in the physical world. The robeast had taken more than energy from them, it’d taken calories. Muscle mass. Here, Keith looked healthy and battle ready in armor. 

Shiro also looked differently here – how he’d looked when he first entered. Black hair, buzzed undercut, Galran arm. Very different from his current reflection’s all white hair and ¾ of an arm.

Black prowled behind her paladins, left right, left right. Shiro imagined the heat off of her, engines ready to fight.

Shiro didn’t know how long he stood there, Keith at his side and Black at his back. But the other presence did nothing. When the rumbling took on a whining quality, Shiro tilted his head and frowned at it.

“It hasn’t done anything _,”_ Shiro said, considering. “Just sat there.”

“It’s waiting,” Keith bite out. “This is night three, yeah?”

“That I remember.”

Shiro was defiantly getting a plaintive feel from it. He took a step forward, sidestepping Keith’s grasping hand. “Hello?” he asked, simultaneously sending the same thought toward the form. _Hello?_

A sense of perking up at being approached. A tentative hope. But it was faint enough Shiro could have imagined the thought. This thing either wasn’t used to the astral plane or couldn’t access it despite it being the place where several alien races could access.

Shiro stepped closer, only half aware of Keith’s hand on his shoulder.  “What do you want?” _What do you want?_

Shiro reached out with his mind and felt something touch back. The stars of the astral plane burned away, there was a sense of alarm from Keith and Black.

His vision flashed Altean blue, then nothing.

* * *

 

“Shiro! Shiro!”

He woke to violent shaking.

Alarmed, he lashed out at the person above him, directing his arm to go for their throat. Before it got there, something intercepted it.

Shiro sprung up, already calling his arm back and waiting for a fight, when he realized exactly where he was.

Keith’s hospital room. With Krolia eyeing Shiro’s arm in the corner where she had just sent it. And Keith, awake and wide-eyed, sitting up with both hands up.

“You awake?” Krolia asked.

“Yeah,” Shiro said dryly.

Instantly, Keith leaned into Shiro’s space. “Are you okay? Does your head hurt? What did it _do?_ ”

Shiro frowned at him. “I’m fine. No headache. And what do you mean, what did it do?”

Vaguely, he noticed Black circling in his head and seating herself rather obtrusively in the center.

“You reached out to it, and then disappeared! Black couldn’t connect with you, and when I woke up and tried to get you to wake, it took five minutes.”

Shiro rubbed at this forehead. “I remember reaching out, but that’s it.”

Keith took Shiro’s face between his hands. “Are you sure?”

Shiro nodded. “I don’t remember anything. Just…”

“Just?” Keith prompted.

“Just a blue light. It reminded me of Altean tech.”

“I don’t like this,” Krolia said. “Whatever that this was, it could have done anything in those five minutes.”

“What’s going on?” Coran asked.

He and Allura where in the doorway, Allura in a wheelchair and looking miffed about it. But she also looked concerned.

“We heard you shouting for Shiro,” she said. “Is something wrong? Is that why Krolia told us to have a meeting this morning?”

“Yes,” Shiro said. Sighing, he slipped out of Keith’s bed. “Let me make sure everyone’s up and get the screens connected.”

“You might want to tell the families to leave for an hour,” Krolia suggested, looking at her claws. “This doesn’t concern them.”

“No, it doesn’t,” Shiro agreed.

He stuck his head into Lance’s room first. He was still sleeping, so Shiro left it to his parents to wake up him while Shiro brought up the video on the screen. Keith was already logged on, though it looked like Krolia had done that because Keith was busy talking with Coran, and Allura. Hunk was already awake, though barely. He demanded a morning hug from Shiro, waking instantly when Shiro mentioned they were having a Voltron meeting.

“Five minutes,” Shiro told them. “We’ll be done before breakfast, so you can have that with your family.”

Pidge was already awake, talking quietly about some project she wanted to work on with Colleen while Sam slept in a corner.

“Meeting time?” Pidge asked when Shiro knocked.

“Yeah. Colleen, Can you wake Sam? And then I’m going to have to ask you to step out. You should check in with Traffic Command, they’ll have the plans for Matt’s arrival.”

“You do realize I get it out of Sam anyway?” Colleen raised an eyebrow.

“He’ll probably tell you without prompting, but I would appreciate it if you left with the other families.”

Colleen sighed but nodded.

By the time Shiro stepped back into Keith’s room, still holding Allura and Coran, the others had logged on. Lance looked disgruntled though, rubbing at his eyes with his sleep mask pushed up on his forehead. “I thought we were talking later.”

“Sorry,” Shiro said, standing next to Keith’s bed with his arms crossed. “Something came up.”

“So there is something wrong.” Allura looked between Keith and Shiro. “The shouting this morning, I presume?”

Shiro sighed, pressing his finger and forefinger to the bridge of his nose. “There’s… something… that’s been trying to get into my head for the past few days. Yesterday it interrupted me and Black.”

“And last night it pulled you out of the astral plane,” Keith growled.

Everyone gave cries of alarm, quick questions of if he was okay, what happened, what it was. Shiro held up a hand to halt them all.

“The shouting this morning,” he nodded to Allura, “was Keith trying to wake me. I have five minutes, in this plane, I can’t remember. I don’t have a headache. We, Black and I, have no idea what it is or what it wants.”

“Information,” Krolia said, repeating her earlier theory.

Sam nodded. “You have access to a lot of information, Shrio. If they found it-”

 “It could put Voltron and Earth at risk,” Allura finished. She looked worried. The whole team did.

Shiro nodded. “Hence the meeting. Last night is the first time something worth serious concern happened, otherwise I would have told you sooner.”

Keith snorted.

Pidge leaned forward in her bed. Her glasses couldn’t hide the still obvious dark circles under her eyes. “How is that even possible? Is it like connecting to the Lions?”

“Sorta,” Shiro said. “I thought it was Black at first, it’s the same headspace, though it not having a solid form in the astral plane is odd. It doesn’t have the… gravitas of the Lions. But it feels big. Intelligent.”

“We’re still not sure how we connect to the Lions,” Hunk pointed out.

“Allura,” Lance said, “You did magic stuff to Lotor’s ships, sorta like how your dad worked with the Lions, yeah?”

“Yes. But it was just to give them access to the quintessence field.”

“You didn’t feel a presence, like with the Lions?” Hunk asked. “Coran made it sound like the Lions had personalities before Alfor built them. I always thought that might be because of the comet.”

Coran coughed in his fist. “I’m not sure how King Alfor built the Lions, and I was there! But he did always mention it felt more like unlocking potential, rather than giving them abilities.”

Allura nodded. “Working with Sincline felt similar. Once I started, I had a guiding hand.”

“I don’t care how it happened,” Sam broke in, “I care about the why. Shiro, do you think this will happen again?”

Shiro considered that. “Probably,” he winced. “Black pushed it out of my head last night, but it still lingered on the edges.”

Everyone frowned.

“It pulled you away from us last night, Shiro.” Keith reached out to touch the end of Shiro’s mechanical arm. “It’s not scared of Black _and_ surprised her.”

Sam shook his head. “This is a large security risk. Sorry Shiro, but we’ll be lowering your clearance and changing passwords until future notice.”

“Good,” Krolia said.

Shiro shrugged, he expected that.

“We’ll need to identify it,” Allura said. “Find out what it wants. Cut off its connection to you.”

“Please,” Shiro said. “It hasn’t felt malicious, but I’ve had enough issue with people invading my mind.” He tightened his grip on his human arm, remembering the phantom touches of Haggar and the horror of discovering his mind had been copied, his memories analyzed, to be used as a weapon. He only realized he was bruising himself when he heard Keith lightly call his name.

Shaking it off, Shiro gave Keith a small smile and tuned back into the conversation.

“If it’s not malicious, what else could it want?” Hunk said.

Keith shook his head. “Doesn’t matter. It needs to go.”

“Maybe it just likes Shiro. Wanted to say hello.” Lance waved his hand.

 “It did just sit and stare at me most of the night. But,” Shiro looked to Allura and Coran. “It felt Altean.”

“Altean, you say?” Coran twirled his mustache.

“Do we know anything about the robeast yet?” Pidge asked. “It didn’t look Galran.”

“But Altean?” Hunk asked. “Sure, it sorta fought like Lotor, but he’s only half Altean.”

“Those were Altean duel swords,” Allura threw in.

Lance’s eyes widened. “You don’t think it’s the robeast trying to get into Shiro’s head.”

“Anything’s possible.” Pidge shrugged her shoulders.

“I have people recovering the pieces, but no one’s analyzed them yet,” Shiro said.

“That’s a priority then,” Sam said. “Shiro, you and Coran are going to the battleground. It’ll be better looking at the biggest pieces than the small bits of plating and wiring we have here so far.”

“Yes, sir,” Shiro said.

“Keep us updated, Shiro,” Sam said. “If it tries again, I want to know.”

“We all do,” Allura said.

Shiro nodded.

* * *

 

During the final fight, the robeast had been ripped to pieces. But large parts of it remained intact. The largest being the torso. Shiro didn’t have the resources to bring it into the Garrison so it sat near its impact crater, not far from the Atlas, while he had crews retrieve fingers, bits of a leg, and scattered parts.

They took an older jet to get to it – the newer ones were on escort duty for the morning. It rattled as Shiro flew; before the occupation it would have been retired. But when the Galra came, any potential weapon and transport had been made to last long beyond its original expiration date.

Still, it took three hours to get to the crater. When they flew over the Atlas, still unmoving in its own crater, Shiro looked down. Even thousands of meters in the air, Shiro could see the ship clearly. It was that big. Voltron dwarfed half the planetside structures they’d come across. And Atlas dwarfed Voltron.

And they still weren’t sure how it managed to transform.

A push against his senses pulled Shiro out of his gazing. Coran caught his wince. “Shiro?”

“It made a prod, but backed off quick. Black didn’t even have time to react.”

Coran _hmmmed_ and twirled the edge of his mustache.

Eager to change the subject, Shiro asked, “How do you think the Atlas compares to the Castle?”

“It’s not the same.” Coran sighed. “I know we came here looking for a replacement for the Castle of Lions, but I had thought it would be the same plans. The same feel as my Pop-pop’s ship. But the Atlas isn’t like that. It can’t be like that, because it has Earth technology too.”

Holding on to Shiro’s pilot chair, the Altean looked down at the Atlas below. “The Atlas is bigger than the Castle, and it certainly could never transform.” He turned back to Shiro. “It’s also nice not to have to pilot a ship with a single Altean and four mice!”

Shiro smiled at him. “I’ll admit, flying with a crew larger than five will take some getting used to. As well as not piloting. I like flying.”

“But you make a great captain, Shiro. You directed her beautifully in the fight.”

“Him,” Shiro corrected. “And thanks. It’s probably because I have such a great XO.”

Coran blushed.

* * *

 

An hour later saw Shiro landing the plane. There were personnel on site, studying the robeast, but they weren’t from the Garrison. Rather, they were engineers from the closest Dome who has volunteered to help.

There wasn’t anyone on the planet who hadn’t asked to be put to use.

After landing and introducing themselves to the engineers, Shiro and Coran headed towards the robeast.

Shiro had seen photos of the wreckage. Heck, he’d fought against the mecha himself, but being up close he could make out the finer details. The bits of shielding that enabled it to enter planetary atmospheres. The smooth pieces of armor. The perfect symmetry to it, that spoke of well thought out engineering and manufacturing.

“We keeping looking for a power source,” Shiro said, “but haven’t found one yet. It must be very small, to power something so large.”

“Or very dense,” Coran offered. “If it’s crystal powered.”

Shiro left Coran with an on-site engineer, comparing his knowledge to what the on-site team had found. He kept in their sight, walking around the wreckage to look at it himself.

The previous robeats had been bulkier and came from ships. They didn’t have the capacity to travel between systems. But Shiro had noticed the jets on this one’s back and feet during the battle, and looking at it now he saw how similar they were to Voltron’s in placement if nothing else. If this was Haggar’s work, she’d made leaps in the past three and a half years.

The previous robeasts had been bulky, with a focus on firepower instead of versatility and agility. This, with its more bipedal shape, fast movement, and what had been a more strategic battle than fire-and-shield, made Shiro worry. It had been built with the same strengths Voltron brought to a fight and had an intelligence that matched.

They had been so, so lucky.

In the back of his mind, Black gave a reassuring purr. Voltron might have been knocked out, powered down, and damaged, but they had still taken down Zarkon’s mechsuit and destroyed his main ship. Took care of every robeast. Defeated swarms from another dimension. Even the losses to Lotor, they still completed their objectives after they might have shifted mid-battle. Voltron would always be fine. Even now, the Lions were recovering well.

 _And the paladins?_ Shiro asked.

Because paladins had died before. Not while in the Lions, but a week ago it had been close. Humans were not as indestructible.

Black didn’t answer. As old as Voltron was, most of the Lions had only had two Paladins each. They, in their own way, were learning too.

In fact, this was the only time any of the Lions had been actively connected to two Paladins at the same time – Black with Keith and Shiro.

Shiro walked around the wreckage a second time, focusing on the komar. It was much smaller than the last one he’d seen, but it had still required a power boost. Before, it had been druid magic. Now, it was the energy taken from its enemies.

Fighting solo against it would have led to a spiral into death, your own life force being used to drain you further.

Shiro shuddered and turned to join Coran. He was glad the neither Voltron or Atlas had fought the robeast by themselves.

“It’s definitely Galarn. But I have to say, Allura was right,” Coran flipped through images on a tablet, showing stills from the battle the Atlas had recorded as well images of the wreckage. “These are Altean weapons. I was a little preoccupied during the battle to notice that.”

“An Altean working with the Galra?” Shiro asked.

Coran looked up. “Maybe. Thought it could just be Haggar’s preference. She’s Altean.”

Shiro frowned. “Kolivan said the Blade never found the Altean colony”

Coran matched Shiro’s frown, pointy ears twitching. “You don’t think they’re working with Haggar?”

“A lot can happen in three to four years.” Shiro turned to look at the damaged torso. They hadn’t found the head yet; Shiro wondered if they’d find the main power source and controls there. “Romelle said the colony was loyal to Lotor, blindly believing in him. If someone, like Haggar, convinced them to go after Voltron for revenge…”

Shiro trailed off and sighed. How many enemies was that now? Three Galran leaders defeated and yet the war continued. The universe had rested on Shiro’s shoulders before, but it kept getting heavier.

Coran placed a hand on Shiro’s shoulder. “Later thoughts. But one thing is for sure, there is no power here. If what’s left of the beast is trying to contact you, it’s not this part. Nor are other parts of the wreckage trying to connect to this piece.”

“That’s a relief,” Shiro said. “But doesn’t help solve the problem.”

“No,” Coran agreed. “But this worry is gone now.” He waved a hand towards the damaged robeast.

Shiro turned to look at the twisted and partially melted torso. In his mind, Black felt prideful. Another sense, that of relief, tickled the bottom of his mind.

Black’s head snapped to it, but it was already gone.

Shiro’s head snapped too, behind him, because he had a sense the prod had come from that direction.

“Shiro?”

He turned to look at Coran, who looked towards the horizon before locking eyes with Shiro.

“Everything good, Number Five?”

“I, yeah.” Shiro shook his head. “Just a sense, from that way. It was relieved.”

“What do you say we take a detour on the way back?” Coran suggested, voice full of cheer. “See the Atlas?”

Seeing the ship would be a good distraction, and Shiro should see how the effort to transform him back was going. Earth would need the ship operational sooner rather than later, and Shiro worried about Atlas being exposed instead of a hangar where repairs would be easier.

He smiled. “Yeah. Let’s go check up on him.”

* * *

 

Atlas’s sheer size meant they saw him for a far out. Shiro hadn’t had the time to admire his robot’s form; after the battle the lack of adrenaline made him crash hard. He had awakened in Atlas’s medbay once, and the second he’d woken it’d been in his hospital room at the Garrison.

It was only from miles out could they take in all of him. When they landed near Atlas's feet, Shiro didn't bother looking up. Staring at Voltron from the ground gave you a crick in your neck and a sun in your eyes. Atlas? You couldn't even see his head.

Coran whistled. “I said before, but Sam did some impressive engineering here.”

"Yeah.” Shiro felt proud of his old commander. "Even with Altean knowledge. I didn't expect us to have the manufacturing capabilities. Especially on an occupied planet. But Sam and the Garrison did it."

"If there's something I've learned about humans, it's that they will always surprise you. You're a hardy species."

The weight of Shiro's shoulder mount felt heavier for a second. Pride, not his own, bloomed in his mind. "Yeah," Shiro said, mouth dry.

They circled Atlas, dodging the Garrison scientists running checks and making minor repairs. All of Earth's hopes had been pinned on this ship, they would take care of it. Many of the men and woman Shiro had assigned here had built it and several saluted him with "Captian".

Shiro did his best to ignore the low buzz-rumble in his head.

"When I have the time,” Coran began, “I need to look into the transformation. Other than Voltron, no ships can do that. How did Earth manage? Especially since Atlas wasn’t designed with the ability."

Shiro grinned at the other man. “The condensed crystal version of the Castle of Lions gave him quite a few upgrades. Your grandpa built an amazing ship.”

“That he did.”

Shiro leaned against Atlas's left foot. Instantly, the buzz in his head that had been there since they landed spiked. Shiro winced in pain, and Black snapped her attention to...

Well, to behind Shiro. To the still form of the Atlas.

He sent her a questioning thought. She responded _maybe_. The buzzing turned gentle, apologetic, and completely transitioned to a rumble.

Pressing his human hand against the metal at his back, Shiro sent out a hello.

The joy that came soaring back sent Shiro reeling.

Vaguely, he was aware of Coran supporting him.

"Coran," he asked, tilting his head back to look up at Atlas's shoulder, "Did the Castle ever talk to you?"

"I used to talk to it, that's for sure, and I knew what every clunk and hum meant."

Shiro shook his head, still looking up. Trying to see Atlas's face, to see if it had moved towards him. "Did it _talk_ to you?"

In case he still didn't get it, Shiro pointed to his head. Coran's eyes went wide. "No. The Castle didn't talk. You think Atlas?"

"Maybe, let me try something."

Shiro closed his eyes, reached out to touch Atlas’s foot again, and concentrated. When he wanted to truly talk to Black, they'd meet in the astral plane. But before, piloting the Atlas when something in his mind whispered _look_ , it had been a difficult place.

He'd thought it was instinct. Maybe Altean magic, or an AI or memory in the Castle crystal, but now he thought maybe it wasn't. Maybe it was Atlas waking up.

He tries to find that same headspace, the blue lines and sense of being a part of the ship. A little like being connected to Black, but it was difficult. Not condensing himself to stay in Black, but expanding. Becoming larger, heavier.

When Shiro opened his eyes he stood at the Captain's platform, everything outlined in blue. Behind him, the power crystal glowed brightly.

Shiro felt a rush of emotions from it. Relief, joy, excitement, a sense of _finally_. No words, just a mish-mash of thoughts as if Atlas himself couldn't untangle them.

Shiro held up a hand. "Stop. One at a time, please. You're, a lot." His head felt full, cramped. As if, instead of sharing Black's space, Atlas was sharing his. And Shiro was only human. "Yes-no questions."

Atlas backed off, the crystal glow diming.

"You've been trying to get in my head?"

_Yes_

"To tell me something in particular?"

_Yes_

"What is it?"

Atlas floundered, trying to come up with a small, simple answer.

What came back had the feeling of a greeting.

Shiro grinned. "You wanted to say hello?"

_Yes_

"Well, I'm glad it's you in my head and not something else."

A pleased hum.

"Glad to officially meet you, Atlas."

He got the same sentiment returned.

"Can you transform back?"

In answer, Shiro got the same rush of information he did when Atlas went from ship to mech. He followed the lines of shifting, knew what parts would move and switch and merge. All Atlas needed was a bit of guidance from his Captain.

"Let's do it."

Suddenly, Shiro was back in the desert, Coran looking at him worriedly.

"Shiro, you’re -" Coran said.

"It is the Atlas, tell everyone to back up, he's gonna transform."

The was a sense of curiosity, a bit of possessiveness from Black that Shiro shoved off with _later_. Then he was back in Atlas's bridge, both hands on the console.

"Let's switch you and get you back in the hanger, Atlas."

Instantly, the lines glowed brighter. Despite being technically in his own head, Shiro assumed, he felt himself racing down the connection. He’d never transformed _with_ Black, but that’s what this felt like, feeling his own body shift.

It was exhausting, moving all those parts by himself.

Wearily, Shiro tried to open his eyes. When had he closed them? He felt the heat of engine exhaust, the grittiness of dirt under his cheek. Someone was shaking his shoulder, but whom Shiro couldn’t bring himself to care. Vaguely, he understood people around him were alarmed. Shouting. He was a Commander, Captain of a ship whose name he heard shouted.

He couldn’t gather the energy to move.

He slumped into the ground.

* * *

 

Shiro woke to a familiar sound of hospital beeps and the ceiling that belonged to his previous hospital room. He felt stiff, achy, like he had gone three fights in a row in the Arena. He had a terrible headache and would kill for an ice cube to suck on.

“Shiro?”

He turned to his right and saw Keith. He was stretched out on the covers, looking better from the last time Shiro saw him. Enough for Shiro to believe he’d been out of it for more than a day.

Keith brushed Shiro’s bangs out of his face. “How do you feel?”

“Exhausted,” Shiro croaked. His lips felt dry.

Keith rolled over and came back with a cup full of ice cubes. “Here, I’ve been munching on these.” He slipped one into Shiro's mouth and Shiro made sure to lick the tip of Keith's finger.

"What happened?" Shiro whispered after a few more ice cubes.

"You know how we can power the Lions with our quintessence?"

Shiro made a hum of agreement.

"Well, the Atlas can be powered by quintessence too. Except the Atlas is huge Shiro. Apparently the first time it took a bit from all the crew, and because there were at least a hundred no one noticed the drain. But Shiro," Keith scooted in close, pressing his face into Shiro's chest, "Powering that transition yourself nearly killed you. Don't do it again."

Shiro wrapped his flesh arm around Keith. "I won't. I didn't realize that would happen, I thought I just had to tell the parts how do move."

"Well, now you know."

Shiro kissed the top of Keith's head.

"You truly only feel tired? No headaches?"

"Just tired," Shiro agreed, slipping back into sleep.

* * *

 

Shiro shouldn't have been surprised to find himself dreaming of the astral plane and Black.

A very possessive Black, considering he found himself sitting in the space between her side and legs as she lay curled on the ground. She pulled him closer every few seconds.

Chuckling, Shiro gave in and leaned against her side. He looked towards the edge of the space, where Atlas had been before, and found it empty.

Here, it was impossible to hide his disappointment from Black. Just as it was impossible for her to hide her stubborn clinginess.

They melded; melted into each other's minds and body. Different from Atlas, where Shiro had still felt like a passenger and Black's response to the thought was a sense of superiority.

It was hard to pick apart Black's emotions at first. She was angry at Atlas, for the stress he put Shiro in both by originally trying to communicate with him and then draining his energy. She felt he was irresponsible. Atlas was also butting in somewhere he didn't belong - Shiro's head. Because Shiro was Black's first and foremost.

But he wasn't, Shiro reminded her. Yes, he'd been her pilot, was still one of her paladins, would always be connected to her thanks to her holding on to him for a year. But he wasn't her first and foremost. She had Keith. Keith who she fought with, responded to when in danger.

 _And you too!_ She sent back. She'd guarded his mind for the past two days. Wasn't that proof of her love?

It was, but he had given Black to Keith for the sake of the team - a move she approved - and he thought moving on, with Atlas, was his turn to grow.

A flare of protection and worry flooded over him, even as Black curled tighter to keep Shiro pressed against her.

Because the root of the issue, he realized, wasn't her unwillingness to let him bond without another ship. He belonged in the skies, flying and fighting and winning, but she didn't trust Atlas. Intentionally or not, he had almost drained Shiro's entire life force.

It wouldn't be a battle that claimed Shiro's life, Black feared, but the ship he captained. Shiro was still under Black's protection, and she couldn't bless his connection with anyone who would hurt him.

Shiro stroked her side. He got it. Honestly. But he was still alive, he felt, for a reason and a part of that was choosing who he affiliated himself with.

Atlas is young, he admitted. But I can teach him. You can teach him. We did alright with the other paladins.

Black sniffed. Because here was another issue, Shiro saw in her mind. Black and Atlas couldn't communicate directly. She had no way to scold him, teach him, or reach out to Shiro.

She'd felt it, Shiro's quintessence dropping to low levels, but she hadn't been able to find him. Wherever that headspace was where Atlas and Shiro meet, she couldn't get in. Couldn't stop it. She'd panicked, which panicked Keith, which panicked the paladins, which panicked a whole slew of people.

The discussion had been had, she knew from Keith, about how dangerous Atlas was. If he was a threat.

 _He's not_ , Shiro insisted, and directed Black to the memories he had of his brief interactions with Atlas. From realizing what he could do in the battle to the most recent talk with his power crystal. What had happened had been a mistake. One Shiro knew he wouldn't allow to happen again.

Black wondered if Shiro trusted Atlas. He wasn't sure himself. Or at least, how much. Be he was Atlas's captain, that wouldn't change. Communication with him would be helpful. But if this... budding bond didn't work he would still be at the helm.

Earth needed Atlas. And Black and the others needed him too.

Black snorted. Atlas was big, bulky and slow. He hadn't actually managed to damage the robeast.

He had, Shiro reminded her, as a ship.

She wasted no time pointing out he was a better ship than mech.

Shiro laughed out loud, the astral plane swallowing the sound. They would have to work on that, improving the mech’s fighting ability. But his strengths weren’t hers, weren’t Voltrons. They’d figured it out.

Shiro felt her resignation in his mind. No doubt, she’d caught his thoughts about being set in trying to work with Atlas. Her concerns were noted, but he wasn’t going to not try to work with Atlas more.

He wanted to, and that was that.

Black let reluctance bleed into her thoughts, but eventually it faded into grudging acceptance. It was, ultimately, a choice that only Shiro and Altas could make. And just like she understood the territory of bonds, she wouldn’t push Atlas out of Shiro’s head again. Not unless Atlas was about to kill him.

Shiro chuckled into their same space. Deal.

She wouldn’t, she also made a point to think at him, be the first to respond to a threat to Shiro. Black knew bonds; she held on to the ones with Keith and Shiro tightly. The first to defend them, the only one to interact with them on this level amongst Voltron. But, if Shiro decided to connect with Atlas, Atlas claimed that first privilege. That right to defend, and comfort, and dream with; she’d fade into the background of Shiro’s life.

Weren’t they a pair, giving up each other. Shiro giving up Black for Keith, and Black giving up Shiro for Shiro’s own growth.

The burden of leaders, Black sent back. You have to step back and let them fly.

Did that mean Shiro traded up?

Black mentally swatted him.

Shiro pulled up an image of him on Atlas’s bridge, high in Earth’s atmosphere with the stars fast approaching.

 _Watch me fly_ , he told Black.

 _I’ll be right beside you_ , Black answered back.

* * *

 

Shiro woke up a few times over the next few days, usually to a paladin either in the bed with him or the room. It was enough for him to realize they were healing, regaining the energy sapped out of them, and soon Shiro would be up and going too. He had things to do.

If they would let him.

He woke up to Pidge actually sitting on him, legs thrown over his while his prosthetic was pinned in the small space between her thighs, his thighs, and the bed.

"Is this really necessary?" Shiro asked.

"Dad said you're not allowed to work."

"And yet he brought me paperwork and reports. Which you're reading."

She shrugged. "I got bored, and reading isn't work."

Shiro sat up and wiggled his human fingers at her. "Then I can read my reports."

"You can read these." Pidge handed him a tablet, marked Engineering. Holts had a thing for organization. Sam had developed a system of keeping reports on devices associated with departments for quick identification. Shiro liked it, but he was sure the staff who had to comply had other opinions.

He peeked at the tablet Pidge held - R&D.

"What if I want that one?"

Pidge didn't even look up before responding. "Your human hand is full. You'd have to pull the other one free, which would dislodge me, potentially knocking me off the bed." She turned to him with puppy dog eyes. "And you wouldn't risk that, would you?"

"I hate it when you do that." Shiro fell back into his pillows.

Pidge laughed. "You'll like that tablet. It's got Altas’s files."

Shiro sighed and opened the first file. He'd seen the plans for the Atlas before, when they first arrived, but he hadn't looked at them in much detail. He'd always been able to perform basic maintenance on his ships, identify problems, but his missions had always included an engineer so he never fully understood a ship's systems. Even with Atlas, he wouldn't touch them. He had a micro crew of engineers that Coran led.

Still, having shared a mind with Atlas, following the lines of energy as he shifted from ship to mech to ship, Shiro felt a need to memorize every part of the blueprints. He couldn't become one with Atlas like with Black, share thoughts and sights and touch, but he'd been able to be in parts of the ships. Apparently along the powerlines, looking at the plans.

He traced them with his fingers, the wiring and pipes the carried either fuel to the engines or electricity to the systems. As he did, he found himself remembering the outline of the bridge and realized the lines were the same.

"Shiro?"

He snapped his eyes open, not realizing he'd closed them.

Pidge looked at him with concern. "You okay? You spaced out." Her eyes roved his face, checking for color.

"Yeah, just thinking. I keep comparing Black to Atlas and using that to try to figure out how it works with Atlas."

"Yeah?"

Shiro tilted his head toward the space beside him. Pidge got the hint, changing positions so that she could lie along Shiro. He sent his metal forearm to the end table, out of either of their ways.

Before Shiro could explain, Pidge called up Hunk because she knew he'd be interested. Hunk arrived, gave Shiro a hug, and somehow managed to squeeze onto the bed so all three of them could look at the tablet in Shiro's lap.

It was a lot of guesswork on Shiro's part, but he explained how the connection was energy based, not quintessence which was a little more metaphysical. He couldn't _be_ Atlas, like he could be Black, but he could be a part. For a little bit. And could talk to Atlas.

They bounced ideas back and forth, was Shiro connecting to the ship or the remains of the Castle, the crystal? Could Shiro mentally move Atlas, like they a Lion? Could, Pidge imaged with stars in her eyes, Voltron and Atlas merge into a double awesome robot?

When Keith came in, pushed by a nurse after his PT appointment, he found Pidge, Hunk, and Shiro debating about what an "Attron" would look like, complete with paper scribbles and large gestures.

"Budge," Keith commanded.

Pidge and Hunk shuffled around to make room for Keith, and if that spot was mostly on Shiro's lap, well, Shiro didn't mind.

"Glad to see you're feeling better." Keith placed a peck on Shiro's cheek.

"All I needed was sleep, unlike you guys. Different energy drains."

"I'd think I'd rather my bio energy get drained than my quintessence," Hunk said. "Longer recovery, but less likely to kill you."

"No more dying," Keith agreed.

"I'm not planning on letting Atlas do that again. I will have to talk to the crew though. If he needs a recharge during a fight, they'll need to be okay providing power. There were so many of us before, we didn't feel it."

Pidge reached across and flipped through documents on the tablet. "We got distracted, but there's more than blueprints on here. An analysis on Atlas's new abilities, repair status, and... ." She paused on a list of names.

"Most of Earth's command staff is part of Atlas's crew. Once Coran figured out what happened, he told Dad, Dad told everyone, and they sent out consent forms. Everyone at the Garrison, and a few civilians, who are crew, backup crew, or wannabes signed it."

"Wow."

The list was long, Shiro kept scrolling down and down and down. So many people, despite the double danger of a battle and having your soul feed a ship, had signed.

He'd expected the members of the Garrison, but the three thousand civilians?

"Everyone wants to help," Hunk said. "My parents even signed. Don't know if they'll ever actually be crew members, Dad's a chef and Mom's a meteorologist, but they signed."

"I'm sure I could find a place for them if needed," Shiro said.

If push came to shove, if the Galra attacked again, Atlas could be a space colony. Shiro would lift off with as many people as he could. Which meant all of their families.

Shiro flipped back to the repair updates. Be it Shiro's quintessence or the damage hadn't been bad, but the Atlas only required a few weeks of ground time. Not bad for a maiden flight.

"We didn't break a bottle," Shiro muttered.

"Bottle?" Pidge asked.

"You know, break a bottle of champagne on a ship’s bow before it's first flight."

"Where would you even get a bottle?" Keith said. "Besides, doesn't matter."

Shiro tried to reach out to Atlas like he did Black, _Do you want a birthday party?_

No answer.

Shiro tried not to let the disappointment crush him.

* * *

 

Later, sharing a hospital bed with Keith, the subject of Black came up.

Shiro expected it. No doubt she'd told Keith the result of their conversation.

"Are you really giving up Black?"

"I gave her to you months ago, Keith. This is no different."

"It is. You could have always stepped up, for any reason, and she and I would've have let you fly. She won't now."

Shiro sighed. "I would have only flown her in an emergency anyway. Plus, being with Atlas, I can fly with you again."

_Be useful._

He had vague memories from the clone, his neuromap of memories sat under Shiro's own. And even though they weren't the same, Shiro could remember the pain of watching the others go off and fight while he had been left in the castle.

He always knew he'd be left behind at some point as his disease progressed, but it hadn't made it hurt less. Watching other complete his dreams.

Back then, Kuron had taken up new roles. The point of contact for many groups to aggregate information, a war strategist. And on Earth, Shiro had done the same. He placed himself between Voltron and Earth and directed troops.

But one of that came close to the feeling of flying. Altas might not give him the thrill of a fighter jet or Black, but he did allow Shiro to be in the midst of action and for that he was grateful.

"Still," Keith said, "You won't miss Black?"

"Of course I'll miss her. Just as you miss Red, right?"

Keith didn't answer, but Shiro took that as a yes.

"It was my choice, well mine and hers. It was made for a reason and neither of us regrets it."

Keith sighed, his breath hot on Shiro's cheek. "Okay."

"Okay?"

"Okay," Keith stated firmly.

Smiling, Shiro pulled Keith flush against him for a deep kiss.

* * *

 

Shiro got discharged the next morning. It made the nurses happy, they hadn't been too happy with Keith sharing with Shiro and Krolia and Kolivan sharing Keith's bed like a cat ball. It made the paladins grumble, they had to stay until they built up weight and muscle again, and Sam and Coran glad to shuffle paperwork into Shiro's lap.

Protecting Earth was a 24/7 job. They needed all the help they could get.

"Don't come into the office until this afternoon though," Sam insisted. "I told the repair crews to skip out for lunch. Go talk to Atlas."

Shiro raised an eyebrow.

Sam turned sheepish. "I think he's worried."

"Is he getting into other people's head?" Shiro felt a little like he suspected Black did when she realized something else was trying to talk to Shiro. Upset, jealous, and possessive.

Sam clapped him on the shoulder. "That's reserved for the Captain apparently. He's found other ways to communicate."

Shiro felt some of his tension drain away to be replaced with curiosity. "Alright. I'll go see him in an hour."

While waiting, Shiro found himself waylaid by his team, their families, and a very enthusiastic Matt whom Shiro need probably a whole night drinking with so they could properly exchange stories. Plus, a drunk Matt might be less likely to take clone samples.

Head of Earth's defenses he might be, but Voltron would always have the largest part of his heart so he made sure to talk to the hospital staff about each paladin's recovery path and timeline. He would make sure his team was following them when he came back every night to share Keith's bed.

Shiro took his time walking to Atlas's hanger. He tried to project, to connect minds, and found himself feeling morose when he got no answer of thought or presence from Atlas. Worse, it almost felt like a block.

He shook his head. Atlas was probably just sleeping. Or recharging. But Shiro had expected some type of mental contact the three days he'd been in the hospital and there'd been none. Not even dreams.

It made him wonder, just a bit, if Atlas had changed his mind. Didn't want Shiro as Captain, or didn't want the bond. And as much as Shiro still had nightmares about Haggar in his head (both his own and the clone's), he had found Black's presence soothing. Comforting. Her protective nature had made him feel safe from nightmares and other intrusions.

Maybe it'd been wrong, to expect something similar from Atlas. They were different ships, after all.

It didn't stop Shiro from feeling disappointed and maybe a tiny bit abandoned.

 _Suck it up_ , he told himself. _You've gotten through much worse alone_.

Standing before the underground hanger doors, Shiro took a deep breath before entering.

Like Sam had promised, the space was empty aside from Shiro and Atlas. Shiro took a moment to take in his ship. He'd read the repair reports, knew the ship was being taken care of but liked being able to see it for himself.

There were at least five scaffolding around Atlas, workstations for repairing the cannons and adding an extra layer of protection to the weak spots in the armor. Care was being spent on making sure the seems of transformation were smooth and Shiro knew there were plans for Coran to replicate some of Hunk's and Pidge's modifications to the Castle to Atlas. Stronger shields. Better comms.

If Atlas ever did need to take to space, they'd miss the quickness of the teleduv but Shiro knew there was other tech they could use. The Galra used warp speed instead of wormholes, and surely the recently arrived engineers from Olkarian could help too.

As he circled Atlas, making note of everything, he noticed a flicker of light. Looking up, he saw one of Atlas's windows lit. And as Shiro continued his circle, it followed him.

So Atlas was awake. Shiro tried again to mentally prod him, to no avail, but lights flashed in the closest hatch. Shiro took the cue.

Weeks before, he'd boarded Atlas and gone straight to the bridge. Today was no different, but he vowed to spend a few hours getting to know the entire ship. It had taken weeks to fully learn the Castle of Lions. Atlas was similarly sized, but Shiro had the advantage of blueprints he could read.

Once he stepped into the bridge and took his spot at the Captain’s helm, Atlas spoke.

"Hello, Shiro."

Shiro jumped. He never expected Atlas to speak! Let alone sound like Peter Cullen. "I'm impressed you learned how to talk. Sam's doing?"

No answer. Frowning Shiro called out. "Atlas?"

The screen in front of his flashed. Atlas's words were on it, a cursor after it blinking. As Shiro watched, a line appeared. Once completed, Peter Cullen read the line.

"I am glad you are okay."

Text-to-speech then. Interesting. Shiro made a note to get Hunk and Pidge working on a voice interface. It hadn't been on the list of planned repairs and upgrades but should be simple to do. Other ships had them, but Atlas had been built minimally due to supplies and secrecy.

Atlas probably lacked "ears" too, though it seemed he had "eyes" to have followed Shiro before. Unless that was another sense.

Shiro typed his response with the keyboard, speaking out loud as he did so. Maybe Atlas could learn lip reading.

"Thank you. All I needed was a little sleep."

Ask he waited for Atlas to type back, Shiro sent another little head-nudge his way. Nothing. He was certain he was doing it right.

"I am glad," Atlas said. "I was worried. And I am sorry."

"Sorry?"

"I risked your life."

"You didn't know. And I wanted to help."

No response.

Sighing, Shiro tapped the cover to the crystal, pointed to his head, and then asked Atlas, "Can we really talk?"

"I don't want to hurt you."

Shiro smiled. Black had no reason to worry about Atlas's character. "Talking doesn't hurt. And I'd prefer it, actually."

“Why?"

“It’s hard to put into words. Please?” Shiro closed his eyes and sent his mind searching.

This time, Shiro felt that large presence on the edge of his mind. A welcome fill to the small space Black had regularly occupied.

When Shiro next opened his eyes it was too the blue mindscape from before. He couldn’t help but smile at the sight and sent a wave of thanks towards Atlas. The ship responded with confused acceptance.

“I hadn’t heard from you in days. I was worried you didn’t want the bond between us.”

 _Do you want it?_ The crystal pulsed with Atlas’s words, dim and slow.

Shiro gathered up his thoughts and memories: the comfort of a bond, the ability to do great things, giving up Black, wanting to help, wanting to _lead._ Atlas had shared emotions before, so Shiro assumed he could understand some of Shiro’s but how much he didn’t know. He couldn’t share a mind with him. There was no guarantee that Atlas could even receive the thoughts Shiro sent him.

After a moment, Shiro went simple. He pushed a single emotion towards Atlas. Need.

In response, he got a wave of joy from Atlas.

Shiro felt the tether, the connection he’d been probing all day open up click into place. There was a swirl of emotion from Atlas, protectiveness and honor and assurance and promises. Shiro reflected it all back.

“We’ll be great together, Atlas,” Shiro said. “The universe won’t know what hit them.”

_The Celestial Defenders._

“Guardians of the Sky.”

**Author's Note:**

> If you enjoyed this, please let me know! And if you don't know what to say, I'll accept a keyboard smash. I'll love it. And if you super loved it, wanna share it? if you do, tag me on Tumblr! I live over there [as Uniasus ](https://uniasus.tumblr.com/)as well.


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